On November 30 the European Parliament voted with a majority the report of MEP Geoffrey van Orden on the readiness of Bulgaria, skipping a crucial amendment. Photo by WN
Finnish MEP Ari Vatanen demanded that the European Commission stand for decommissioning Kozloduy nuke units 3 and 4 at the end of this year is reconsidered.
Vatanen, former world rally champion turned MEP, sent a letter to Matti Vanhanen, Prime Minister of Finland, which currently holds the EU presidency, and commission chief Jose Manuel Barroso.
The news broke hours before the opening of the summit in Helsinki, where EU leaders are expected to put the brakes on further enlargement, amid general consensus that the bloc must first put its constitutional house in order.
In the letter Vatanen recalls the European Parliament vote to the proposed delay in the units' closedown, blaming manipulation and misleading information for the negative outcome.
The letter is signed by another eight MEPs and six Bulgarian observers.
On November 30 the European Parliament voted with a majority the report of MEP Geoffrey van Orden on the readiness of Bulgaria to join the bloc next January.
However, the amendment already approved in the External Relations Committee urging for a more flexible approach to the closure of units 3&4 of NPP Kozloduy was not added to the final document.